Health Insurance Exchange Update: Friday, September 7th

With the elections underway, many states are still on the fence about making a decision regarding the health insurance exchange.  Few have even proposed to wait until after someone is elected in November to submit their decision.

Kentucky’s online market place will proceed without a vote by the state legislative committee. At the urging of Republican members, the Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare delayed a vote in August on regulations crafted by Gov. Steve Beshear's administration that would establish a health benefits exchange. If the committee takes no action to block the regulation, it automatically goes into effect, and at this time the committee is not scheduled to meet until September 19^th.

Kansas has still not decided which health insurance exchange services they will provide. According to Insurance Commissioner, Sandy Praeger, if they don't come to a decision soon, the Department of Health and Human Services will choose one for them. The state has set a deadline for Sept. 30^th, however Gov. Sam Brownback wants to wait until after the Nov. 6^th election to make a decision.

And yesterday in Lincoln, the second health insurance exchange hearing was held. Just like the governor of Kansas, Nebraska's Gov. Dave Heineman would also like to wait until after the election to make a decision. The three options are: being state run, federal run and a hybrid of state and federal.Three CEO's of major insurance companies in the state sat in a panel discussion with the mayor. The essential benefits are still undetermined.

This November, the Health Insurance Exchange Congress will be held November 13-14, 2012 in Chicago, IL.  Here, state officials and health plans with the only opportunity to come together to discuss PPACA and strategize on how to make this a successful opportunity for all.  For more information on this year's agenda, download the program here.  As a reader of this blog, when you register to join us and mention code XP1710BLOG, you'll receive 15% off the standard rate!